Dreessen Hopes To Return For Another Season With Broncos

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DENVER (CBS4) – All NFL teams go through turnover in the roster after the season ends, and while it’s only a week or so into the Broncos offseason, speculation has already begun about which players will stay and which ones will go.

He’s not a free agent, but Broncos tight end Joel Dreessen can say for certain that he wants to stay in Denver.

Dreessen has one year left on his contract and says he feels very blessed to have been in the NFL for nine seasons.

“One more season will give me 10 in the NFL. That was my goal,” Dreessen told CBS4’s Vic Lombardi on Xfinity Monday Live.

Dreessen is a Colorado native who grew up in Fort Morgan and played for the CSU Rams, and he just experienced what he says was his most difficult season as a pro. He underwent knee surgery last summer and only had 7 receptions in the regular season. Then he didn’t get to see any action in the playoffs.

“I went through the surgeries during training camp and battled hard to get healthy and played in regular season games, so to be inactive for the postseason was one of the most disappointing things of my career, honestly,” he said.

Dreessen said he “had weekly conversations” with Coach John Fox last month about whether not he would be activated on the roster for the playoff games, and that Fox helped him understand the reasons why he was being listed as inactive.

Then when the Super Bowl came around, Dreessen put on his pads and joined his teammates for pregame warmups, despite his roster status.

“The unique thing about the Super Bowl was whether you’re inactive or not they let you dress for pre-game warmups. If that was as close to game action as I was going to get I was certainly going to do it,” Dreessen said. “So I put my eye black on and went through my warmups.”

Another veteran player on the Broncos roster who hopes to be back next season in a Broncos uniform is cornerback Champ Bailey.

“He had a tough season, too, as far as dealing with injuries,” said Dreessen.

Dreesen said Bailey has told everyone he plans to return next season.

As for his take on the Broncos dismal loss in the Super Bowl, Dreessen says he doesn’t think it was as a case of the Seattle Seahawks overpowering the Broncos physically.

“I think that’s one of the most insulting things you can say to a football player is that he’s soft or not tough. You don’t win 13 games, you don’t make it to the Super Bowl without being physical,” Dreessen said.

Instead, Dreessen said his coaches have stressed throughout the season that turnovers, explosive plays and sacks are the keys to collecting wins. Unfortunately, the Seahawks “won all three of those” in the game.